Airport Traffic Stays Above 1 Million

September 25, 1986|By Peter Adams of The Sentinel Staff

Passenger traffic at Orlando International Airport in July topped 1 million for the fourth month in a row. The number of domestic travelers continued its steady increase, and international traffic began to show signs of recovery.

The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority reported Wednesday that 1,173,384 passengers used the airport in July, up 28 percent from 914,788 passengers in the same month of 1985.

The latest figure was the second highest this year; 1,217,000 passengers used the airport in March. For the first seven months of 1986, the aviation authority reported, the airport's passenger count totaled 7,358,205, up 20 percent from the 6,122,967 people who arrived at and departed from the airport from January through July 1985.

The surge in passenger traffic in July was due partly to a recovery in international travel, which had been hurt earlier this year by terrorist acts and the U.S. bombing of Libya. According to the latest aviation authority figures, the Orlando airport served 25,388 international passengers in July, up 29 percent from 19,687 in July 1985.

British Airways, which began non-stop flights between Orlando and Bermuda April 28, declared last week that the service has been successful.

In July, 1,282 British Airways passengers traveled between Bermuda and Orlando, the carrier said, compared with 471 during the first month of the service.